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Tuesday, 5 May 2015

Star Wars: Heir to the Empire review (Unread 007)

Here it is; the big one. The grand-daddy of all Star Wars Expanded Universe novels: The Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn. It
took me two years of exploring the EU to finally come around to reading Star Wars: Heir to the Empire. To be
honest, this is probably where I should have started exploring the EU but for
reasons that can be summarized by the simple fact that I had other EU books in
my hands before I ever bought a copy of Heir
to the Empire, I only got around to reading it two months ago. I’m glad I
did because the book holds up as an entertaining follow-up to the original
trilogy, despite the praise it’s usually given by fans of the franchise. I was
honestly worried this book would be overhyped.

For those who have not heard of this book and its
sequels, The Thrawn Trilogy is
arguably the most important Star Wars novels
as they’re regularly credited with first developing and popularizing the foundations
of what became known as the Expanded Universe. All of the Star Wars novels of the 1990s owe a debt to Zahn and his trilogy.
To try and put this accomplishment in perspective, Zahn gives the franchise an
identity post Episode VI, creates some of the most popular and best developed
characters of the EU, successfully writes about Luke, Leia, Han, and other
characters from the film by being true to their onscreen counterparts but also
providing them with a new identity. He does all of this while also telling an
interesting story that mixes old and new tricks resulting in a thrilling first
volume of a trilogy. What gives this book such a lasting impression is that it
was used as the foundation on which all of the other Bantam Spectra era novels
are built upon. It forms the backbone of this publication period of Star Wars novels. Some even credit this
trilogy with renewing George Lucas’ interesting in creating the prequel
trilogy. It’s uncontested truth that The
Thrawn Trilogy has had a lasting impact on the franchise and is at the very
least partially responsible for the continued success and popularity of Star Wars today.

That’s a lot of expectations for a single novel. Let’s
face it, if the first novel of a trilogy doesn’t deliver, many readers won’t
pick up the second volume. That’s a normal reaction to a first novel. If my
reading pile is any indication there just isn’t enough time to spend on
finishing a series of books when you didn’t enjoy the first instalment. When I
started to read Heir to the Empire I
was a little worried it wouldn’t be able to live up to the hype. I was
especially concerned since I wasn’t particularly impressed with Star Wars: Choices of One, the first
book by Zahn that I’ve ever read.

Cover of the Dutch edition.

One of the things that make this book enjoyable is that
nearly everything feels familiar. That’s saying something considering Zahn
introduces quite a few important new characters and a couple new settings. One
of the most recognizable today is the planet city of Coruscant. Even with all
the new stuff that Zahn includes in the book, the whole thing feels very
accessible. It works well in comparison to the depiction of Star Wars on film.
I find that Star Wars novels written
after this original trilogy because less accessible because the franchise had
quite literally continued to progress in one large story after the conclusion
of the original trilogy. While a lot of the Bantam ear books are trilogies with
a few standalone novels and a series or two, they reference once another with
some frequency. It’s more similar to a series of novels encompassing trilogies
as actual separate stories being told without connections to one another. This
has only gotten worse with the years and it can make it very difficult to
choose which Star Wars book you
should read, let alone fully understand the one you’re reading.

What certainly helps new readers with Heir
to the Empire is that the main protagonists are the same as those in the film.
Zahn focuses on Leia, Han, and Luke throughout the book and their
characterizations are pretty close to the ones we’re familiar with but he also
chooses to change them a bit. It works because this book is set after Return of the Jedi and it makes sense that
the changes in galactic politics also impacted our heroes who, after all, are
the cause of that change in regime.

I
quite liked Leia in this book. She’s kind of the Liz Lemon of the Star Wars universe. She’s the woman that
manages to do it all. She’s arguably the New Republic’s top diplomat and as
such she’s given many important political assignments to carry out for the good
of the Republic. She’s also an expecting mother (of twins, no less). On top of
all that she’s studying the Force with Luke to one day because of Jedi. Happily
married to Han Solo, she routinely finds herself in the middle of dangerous
situations. I have no idea how or when she ever sleeps or how she hasn’t been
rendered insane by her incredibly busy lifestyle. Even though her attention is
divided in a dozen different directions, she manages to stay on top of it. She also
manages to have a crazy adventure on Kashyyyk with Chewbacca.

Han
has also changed since we last saw him. He’s developed into a more interesting
character. He's still the outsider of the group, the one character who is
looking in and brings the everyman perspective to the story. In addition to
that he's also adapted nicely to his new life and even though he's more or less
gained the knowledge required to navigate the political stronghold of the New
Republic he's retained his characteristic abrasiveness. In other words, he
still doesn't like any bullshit situations yet manages to constantly find
himself in the middle of them. What I find interesting about Han and
Leia's relationship is that he left his old life for hers. We get a few moments
where Zahn points it out but Han never really reflects on it. It’s not really a
better life considering how much trouble he gets into but there is something a
little more wholesome compared to his previous life. I’m really looking forward
to reading about him as a father. Hopefully the twins are born before the end
of the trilogy.

Cover of the Hungarian edition.

I’ve
had a hard time finding a book that did Luke Skywalker any justice. find that's
he's often characterized as someone who is crippled by doubt or by his legacy
as the Last Jedi (whether he truly is the last Jedi or not doesn't really
matter, that he thinks he is does). It is important to mention that most of the
Star Wars books I had read a set
during the original trilogy or shortly after: The Courtship of Leia, Choices
of One, The Truce at Bakura and
the original trilogy novelizations. Zahn manages to write Luke as a very
capable person with and without the use of the Force. He's certainly not a
young man anymore. He's an adult who’s confident in his abilities but always self-aware
enough to know of his limitations. He's also a little lost. He knows that he
has to train more Force-sensitive individuals to one day become Jedi and reform
the order of the Jedi Knights but he doesn't know where to start. He doesn't balk
at this task nor does he run away from it. Instead he tackles his problems and
his future as I feel any Jedi would. Calmly, without fear and with utmost
devotion to the Light side of the force.

He's
not perfect, I would argue no Jedi Master ever was, but being conscious of his
shortcomings Luke regularly displays the courage and the tenacity to overcome
his internal and external problems. The stories I've read write Luke as he is
portrayed in the first and second movies, not the Luke we see in Return of the Jedi. I like that version
of Luke and I find that an adult Luke looking to re-establish the Order of the
Jedi while simultaneous trying to give his life purpose by doing so is a more
interesting character than his young farm boy self from Episodes IV and a little in V.
I had my doubts that this version of Luke existed in the EU but thankfully I've
found him in Heir to the Empire. It's
one of the nice surprises to be found in this book and it's one more reason why
the Thrawn Trilogy is the granddaddy
of the EU. A must read not only because it was the first breakout EU story but
because it's also really good.

For the most part, Heir
to the Empire is a fun read. It’s not overly serious and even though the
series’ heroes are entering yet another difficult period in their lives due to
their involvement in intergalactic conflict, the book isn’t filled with dread.
It’s interesting to point out that all the new characters of note are working
against Han, Leia, and Luke. Mara Jade, former hand of the Emperor, Thrawn a
skilled Grant Admiral of the former Empire, Jorus C’baoth rumoured to be a Jedi
Master, and Talon Kaarde a notorious gangster are all pursuing the heroes for
one reason or another. Times are tense and Zahn skilfully built that tension
while setting the scene for the second and thirds parts of the trilogy. That he
manages to make it an interesting and relatively fast paced read while also making
sure to include character development and action is impressive. I hope that the
second volume cranks things up a bit because all the pieces are in place and
conflict is unavoidable at this point. Let the TIE fighters fly and lightsabers
ignite. It’s likely going to be a bumpy ride.

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Shared Universe Reviews

Welcome to my blog. I like to write about comics, books, movies and more. Feel free to comment and share you thoughts. If you'd like me to review a comic or if you're interested in an interview, send me an e-mail at mario.jf.lebel@gmail.com.